‘The word parliament derives from the French “parlement”—the act of speaking, the discussion. The chamber in which parliamentary assemblies meet is therefore a spatial setting for that very discussion. The comprehension of the nature of this discussion should hence inform the architectural design.

The spatial organization of formal assemblies has not substantially changed much from Athenian assembly to the modern concept of prime ministerial government that goes back to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) and The Parliamentary System in Sweden (1721–1772) that coincided with each other. Classical democracy not only influenced the formation of later constitutions, it also created an architectural legacy which has dominated both the form and style of parliament buildings to the present day. [Sudjic, Deyan, “Architecture And Democracy”, Laurence King Publishing, 1992]

The most appropriate form remained to be hemicycle—semicircular, or horseshoe shaped, debating chamber (plenary chamber), where members sit to discuss and pass legislation.

The circular shape is one, which was primarily designed to encourage the politics of consensus among political parties rather than confrontation. The design is used in most European countries (and hence was adopted by the European Parliament) and the United States. The equality in its shape—the equal distance from the speaker, for example—is being used whenever democratic dialogue is anticipated. In contrast, the Westminster system, in which the government and opposition parties face each other on opposing sets of benches, points at an interesting potential: the exploration and exacerbation of spatial confrontation and conflict as a form of agonistic ground condition. This research questions the seemingly causal relationship between the spaces of parliamentary chambers and the system they represent.’

Where land and sea meet cannot be understood as Carl Schmitt’s concept of the shoreline anymore. Instead, we need an abstraction that matches contemporary notions of space. The shoreline rather appears where ‘land, water but also air meet’, as R.W.G.

Where land and sea meet cannot be understood as Carl Schmitt’s concept of the shoreline anymore. Instead, we need an abstraction that matches contemporary notions of space. The shoreline rather appears where ‘land, water but also air meet’, as R.W.G.

^ Historical Geographer Martin Lewis starts his vision on Geopolitical Anomalies of the World (2008) with a brilliant quote about the definition of ‘boundary’: Boundary: In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of

^ Historical Geographer Martin Lewis starts his vision on Geopolitical Anomalies of the World (2008) with a brilliant quote about the definition of ‘boundary’: Boundary: In political geography, an imaginary line between two nations, separating the imaginary rights of

^ Floating structure in Portland. photo by John Ewing / Portland Press Herald via news.cnet After two months of low activity in deconcrete, and hyper activity in million other things, yesterday news provided a new architectural speculative hybrid worth

^ Floating structure in Portland. photo by John Ewing / Portland Press Herald via news.cnet After two months of low activity in deconcrete, and hyper activity in million other things, yesterday news provided a new architectural speculative hybrid worth

^ Architecture Memory: 184 streets “honoring” Franco times in today’s Madrid, by CeAQUA via público It’s interesting how the city of Buenos Aires has fought back. The day that Ana Botella, Aznar’s wife and democratically un-elected Mayor of Madrid, showed her skills

^ Architecture Memory: 184 streets “honoring” Franco times in today’s Madrid, by CeAQUA via público It’s interesting how the city of Buenos Aires has fought back. The day that Ana Botella, Aznar’s wife and democratically un-elected Mayor of Madrid, showed her skills

^ Damming of the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the Atlantropa project via dieselpunks ‘Gibraltar as an excuse to excite patriotism’, is how Manuel Chaves brilliantly reads a never-ending conflict on the British exclave and the way it

^ Damming of the Strait of Gibraltar, according to the Atlantropa project via dieselpunks ‘Gibraltar as an excuse to excite patriotism’, is how Manuel Chaves brilliantly reads a never-ending conflict on the British exclave and the way it

It is always fascinating to see how architectural icons, in their total innocence, are appropriated by unthinkable purposes that the starchitect behind their conception would have never thought of and maybe – who knows – always wished. When the

It is always fascinating to see how architectural icons, in their total innocence, are appropriated by unthinkable purposes that the starchitect behind their conception would have never thought of and maybe – who knows – always wished. When the

Fantastic essay by Keller Easterling featured in Places: “Today urban space has become a mobile, monetized technology, and some of the most radical changes to the globalizing world are being written, not in the language of law

Fantastic essay by Keller Easterling featured in Places: “Today urban space has become a mobile, monetized technology, and some of the most radical changes to the globalizing world are being written, not in the language of law

^ London Zoo. Top left: Lubetkin and Tecton’s Penguin Pool, 1934 via shrapnelcontemporary. Bottom left: current state by Iqbal Aalam. Top right: design for the new pool via bbc. Bottom right: new pool via modern british architecture On

^ London Zoo. Top left: Lubetkin and Tecton’s Penguin Pool, 1934 via shrapnelcontemporary. Bottom left: current state by Iqbal Aalam. Top right: design for the new pool via bbc. Bottom right: new pool via modern british architecture On